61 Chapter 61
Special shoutout to Simon Ding who is our first Patron.
As Aaron woke up next day, he didnt feel much better though. Sleeping in a forest was worse than sleeping in the desolate area.
The magical beats attacked sometimes at night, but they were still better than the monsters of this forest.
This forest had mosquitoes the size of dragon flies. They bugged him all night long and Aaron could barely sleep. Some smoke from a fire would have got rid of them, but without the tools in the space ring to light a fire, he didnt knew how to light a fire during the night when he couldnt see much anyways. He would need to find a way today if wanted to sleep in peace.
On the positive side, his head ache had got a lot better with the little sleep he managed to get. He was good enough to cover a little distance today.
He again had the breakfast of the bananas. He didnt found them as appetizing as the last time, but it still felt good to have something in his stomach.
The first thing he did once he was ready to move was to open a sky gate. He looked through it and found he could see only see forests for as far as he could see with the barrier present on one side.
He picked a direction directly opposite to the barrier and moved forward.
He opened gates after gates. He checked time to time for any change in the scenery, but he found none. He came across some animals in his journey as well. They werent anything like what he had faced in the desolate area.
When he had first encountered a giant boar like creature, Aaron faced it as any beast he fought in the desolate area. He used a dagger to test its defense.
The dagger sunk into its flesh as smooth as if it was put into a sheath. The animal was hurt and ran away with the dagger embedded into it. Aaron was shocked. He had forgotten normal animals werent like the magical beasts. They knew when to escape if they were hurt. But during the lesson, Aaron had already lost a dagger.
Aaron was tired a little early today because he still hadnt recovered completely but still he had perhaps covered a distance of what normal would be able to cover in over a month in such a dense forest like this one. Another reason why he stopped early today was because he planned on making a fire today.
He found a little clearing in the forest and decided to camp there for the night.
He found dry enough sticks and some twigs. He attempted to light a fire using the techniques he had seen and heard about in tv.
After several tries and failures, he did manage to light a fire. He had a sense of accomplishment. It felt like magic, creating fire with two sticks.
He found some big leaves of a tree and decided to use it as rug of sorts to sleep on.
Once he was settled in, his stomach started to growl. He looked at the bananas he was carrying. He didnt want to eat them anymore after eating them for three times. He was in a forest afterall. He could definitely hunt something.
Turned out, hunting using space gates and telekinesis was very easy after all. He just needed to find animals which he could eat. What he found was two birds. Each one was more than big enough to feed him. He used the daggers to hunt them silently.
He brought them back to his camp. He dressed both the birds and got them on the fire to cook. Thank god his mother had made him work a little in the kitchen so he knew how to do this.
The smell off cooking birds made Aaron drool. He hadnt eaten anything like it over 6 months. He could hardly wait for the bird to be completely cooked.
He wolfed down a whole bird as soon as it was ready. That was the most satisfying meal he have had in both of his life.
That night, Aaron had the best sleep he had in a long time.
It took Aaron 4 more days of travel before a found a change. He could finally see the forest coming to an end in a few miles out. He could also see some sort of sentry towers placed a little distance away from the forest. The towers were placed almost a kilometer apart from each other. And covered the visible border of the forest. Aaron had no clue what it was about.
He started to move ahead cautiously.
As he was nearing the border of the forest area, he came across the first person he saw in over 6 months. This finally convinced Aaron that he was truly out of the desolate area.
The person he saw was having his back towards Aaron. He seemed to be picking up mushrooms in a sack he was carrying. He was dressed in a shirt and trousers of a much different design then the ones Aaron had seen in this world so far. The part he fame from had more tight fitting clothes while this one was much more loose and sewn in a different cut.
He still didnt know how to approach that man. What if he spoke a totally different language? Or took him as a savage?
Whatever Aaron decided to try his luck.
He cleared his throat as he approached to gather the attention of the man.
The man dropped his sack, pulled a small dagger from somewhere and turned around.
"Who is there?" He asked as he turned.
He seemed to have noticed Aaron and pointed his dagger towards Aaron.
"What do you want?"
Aaron was surprised to see that he could understand the language. The dialect seemed to be a little different, but he could understand it.
"I am Aaron. I was lost in the forest and barely survived."
Aaron pointed towards his own attire and how haggard he looked.
The man took a look at Aaron. He saw the rag like clothes on Aaron's body and he could tell the Aaron was barely surviving in the forest.
He also saw Aaron had sword and a dagger. The sheath seemed to suggest that they too had seen better days.
"How did you survive in this forest? And where are you from? Your dialect seems a little odd. Are you from the south?"
"Yes, I am from the south. I came in this forest as a guard. I was seperated from my group after an animal attack. I have been lost for a month. "
"Guard? Who are you lying to? You are too young to be one. You were a servant at most. Werent you? Who were you following?"
Aaron was happy with the assumptions the man made. The man himself was building up a cover story for him.
"I dont know. I was in charge of carrying the luggage. I know they called them treasure hunters." There were always treasure hunters. They appeared at most obscure of places. Aaron didnt know whether this story would work or not.
The man seems to shake his head at this.
"So many years have passed since the great war. The association and the four great families have quarantined the whole area. Still people are reckless enough to venture inside in hopes of finding a relic. Everyone knows there arent any left. "
He ranted on a bit. But seemed to have dropped his caution towards Aaron.
Aaron was surprised about one thing though. The man knew about the war!
Aaron was excited hearing that. He wanted to know more. But he controlled his emotions.
"What could I do. I just needed some work. So I followed. Could you tell me the way out. And the nearest town?"
"Yes. Everyone needs to work. The nearest town from here is the Green herbs town. You could follow me there."
"What are you going to do there though?"
He added.
"I dont know. Look for some work and find a way home. " Aaron came up with a reply which suited his situation.
"I could help you get pass the guards if you are willing to help me carry a sack of these red spotted mushrooms. You wont be getting any share, but I will provide you a meal and a pair of my old clothes when we reach the town. You will be on your own from tomorrow. Are you willing?"
Guards? Aaron thought it would be beneficial if he followed the man. He didnt understand the circumstances of this place. Although he seemed to be cheating him a bit? The mushrooms were definitely worth more than the food and pair of clothes. But Aaron didnt worry about it too much. His first priority was getting out of this place.
"Yes. Thank you for your help. " Aaron replied.
The man was happy. He was could carry double the amount of mushrooms today. It was a good deal.
"Aaron was it? Call me Abraham. "
Abraham and Aaron were done picking up the mushrooms soon. Aaron followed Abraham out of the forest.
As they walked a little further, Aaron could see the guards patrolling between the two sentry towers.
"Let me talk to them. Dont speak unless you are asked to. And dont tell them you were with the treasure hunters."
Abraham soon approached a guard whom he seemed to be familiar with.
"Abraham. Done for the day?"
"Yes Makram. Here is your share. "
Abraham passed a couple of copper coins to the guard.
Looks like they had an understanding between them.
"Who is the bashed up fellow behind you? You usually work alone right?"
"I found him lost in the forest. He came with some people a month ago. They left him behind." Abraham spun a lie on the spot.
"I see. But I see he is carrying a sack for you." The guard said.
Abraham knew what the guard meant.
He passed him another couple of coins and easily left with Aaron.
"The guards are placed here to keep people out of this area and report if something happens. Nothing has ever happened and its one the duties where the guards have nothing to do. They allow some people like me to gather stuff from the forests at a modest price. We make our livelihood and they make some extra on the side. They let you off because you were with me. Else they would have taken you to the mage stationed. That would have been something."
"You better keep your weapons hidden in the sack till you reach the city."
Aaron took in everything that happened. So this world still had mages. Good news for him.
